2014 Music

It’s December, and here’s what I’ve got: There wasn’t anything this year that grabbed me by the neck and shook. But hey, who am I to criticize? I can’t hum in tune. Here are the 10 albums that I listened to most. Each one has its moments, but not sure how well any of them will hold up over time.

Julien Marchal – Insight

I’m going to call this my album of the year. 4 delightful small piano pieces, recorded and released independently by the artist. Do yourself a favour and go to his Bandcamp page and give him a few Euros.

Thievery Corporation – Saudade

That untranslatable Portuguese word that everyone likes to mention. Although the emotion of saudade is one of sadness and longing, this is a very pleasant album.

This recent release is more music-box like than Escapement, which was my 2013 album of the year. There are really nice tracks here, but It was a hard act to follow and (sophomore curse) its just not quite at the same level.

Released late in the year, so kind of early to say if this is worthy. But Scott Morgan/Loscil has released so much material that I really like in the past few years…..I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt. He’s at his best when combining synthesizer with piano or vibraphone, and there’s enough of that here to give me hope that this one will have staying power.

Sometimes people include tracks on their “best of” list that are….. difficult. Sometimes you think that they might do that in an attempt to impress you with the range of their musical tastes.I would never do that.